Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. More coverage will be shared over the next several days.
On Wednesday, February 26, at approximately 4 p.m., Barnard students gathered to protest last week’s expulsion of two students for disrupting Columbia’s “History of Modern Israel” class with antisemitic and violent flyers. These keffiyeh-and-mask-clad students hung a massive banner with “Free Palestine” written in English and Arabic on it and occupied the hallway that contains offices of Barnard administrators, including President Laura Rosenbury and Dean Leslie Grinage. The students began the occupation of Milbank Hall with classic chants of “Globalize the Intifada” and “From the River to the Sea,” adding in “Barnard College is a Fascist Institution” this time. After chants, they continued with cheering, drumming and speeches, one of which decried the History of Modern Israel class for teaching a “biased and inaccurate history” of the region riddled with erasure of the “ Palestinian struggle.”
After the main event, a student told the crowd they would be waiting in the hallway until Barnard administration came out of their offices to negotiate on the students’ demands, including reinstating the expelled individuals and amnesty for all students reprimanded for involvement in pro-Palestine protests.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) members voted every hour to stay in the hallway and await negotiations. During this time, everyone involved wore masks, keffiyehs and even sunglasses to cover their faces from identification. Despite the heat of the room, many refused to remove their masks to drink water. Those who did were promptly covered by black umbrellas to protect their identities.
Despite the relative lack of physical intervention in the protest, a group of students broke in through the building’s back entrance, shoving public safety officers in the process. One officer was assaulted and told observers to “get out of the way so they don’t mess with you too.”
One staff member was reportedly assaulted and sent to the hospital.
According to the Columbia Spectator, the protesters dispersed at around 10:30 p.m. with a tentative agreement to meet with Grinage and Barnard President Laura Rosenbury on Thursday.
